Tough-Luck Five: Do we allow mulligans?

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/sportsline/main9259780.shtml

Some seasons, it just isn't meant to be. Players get hurt or suspended. Players leave on their own. Bad things happen in bulk, and an entire season is lost.

Two years ago it happened to Villanova. Last year it was California and Michigan.

This year? Here are five programs looking forward to 2006-07.

South Florida: The Bulls (6-20, 0-13) have lost one guard after another after another after another. Potential breakout star Marius Prekevicius played his way into a pro contract overseas while with the Lithuanian national team this summer. Freshman Chris Howard tore his ACL two weeks into the preseason, finishing off the Bulls' projected starting backcourt. Then Howard's replacement, New York City playground star David Sills, was dismissed from the team before the first game. That left Collin Dennis as the team's top guard -- and he suffered an ankle injury in the second game, missing 13 more. Freshman forward Zaronn Cann played four games before being shut down with a knee injury. The Bulls have been forced to go with walk-ons for depth, but two recently quit for financial reasons. USF travels with nine players and plays just six; each member of its starting five averages 35 minutes. Meanwhile, the entire season has been played in mourning; popular guard Bradley Mosley, the team's No. 2 scorer in 2003-04 before sitting out last year while fighting cancer, died Oct. 29. Next year will be better for coach Robert McCullum -- it has to be. Howard and Cann will be bolstered by three Division I transfers: Jesus Verdejo (Arizona), Kentrell Gransberry (LSU) and Aris Williams (Valparaiso).

[USFMikeB]

You mean other teams have bad luck and have disappointing seasons too?  Wow, the way we see posts around here, I'd have thought that every team in basketball has a winning record, makes the tourney, and wins their conference, and that USF has a long history of doing so.  Now I hear that isn't true?  Wow!

[USFPDiddy]

He can get another year or two if the AD sees fit.  Smith has failed for much longer than this guy.  So, first things first...

[Bishop of Bulltown]

Woolard is going to keep Coach Mac for as long as he can, nobody gets fired around here. It's a common joke amongst the students that USF stands for U Stay Forever, well same goes for the coaches, or until they find a "better" job.

[tampajo]

U Stay Forever, my parents would agree with that one, back in the day...............ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, that 18 year old drinking age.............................

[Matt]

this post...minus the stupid replies should be marked at the top of the message board.

im glad to see that the national media realizes this.

i guess i am not as nice as brad because i would rather this board be full of about 500 productive members than 4000 piss party's

[Matt]

you stay forever...USF.....you cant finish....UCF......FSU....forever scholastical yours....unable to finish...UF.....

those are nicknames that people who cant get it done come up with.

i was able to come to usf with an AA and left in 2 years with a BA.

every public school thinks that its hard to finish but thats a students excuse to stay longer

[Matt]

the best thing about this article is that it validates everything i have told my co workers for the past 3 months.  1 of my co workers has a son that plays for villanova so he is very skeptical of my reasons why usf is terrible.  this will validate the arguement that ive been making since october

[tampajo]

true, but it only talks of the symptoms - injuries to guys who are already injured, risky players proving to be bad risks - not the problems, the coach sucks and can't run a major college program. sounds like you should go the symptoms route to your villanova pal.

[mutt]

Poor Bastards...